Signals In Autumn [CD]

Signal Meridian is a passion project for Kirk Pasich, co-founder of acclaimed Los Angeles indie label Blue Élan Records. He has brought together a collective of notable musicians and vocalists to reinterpret the songs of underappreciated bands, starting with Signals in Autumn, the first chapter in a four-part series, this one devoted to U.K. band Strawbs and their 1973-78 core songwriting team of Dave Cousins, Chas Cronk, and Dave Lambert. With focus tracks like "Heartbreaker," belted out by Bryan, and the follow-up, "The Last Resort," a showcase for Bryan and Barlow, Signals in Autumn is a surprisingly straight-ahead rock record, with only the set-piece "Autumn," a three-piece suite, hinting at the band's prog roots, and "Where Did the Time Go" revisiting the band's folk roots.